Learn how to cook the best Spanish meatballs recipe with delicious brown sauce. This meatballs family recipe will become your new favourite! Ideal to make a big batch and freeze portions to enjoy on a busy weeknight. Dairy-free.
There’s nothing like mummy meals. And if I had to choose one recipe from my mum (oh gosh that’s hard), these delicious Spanish meatballs in onion and tomato sauce would definitely be in the top 5. It is a family recipe (gluten-free adapted), that has gone through generations, and it's always a favourite within the family and guests.
This meatballs recipe has authentic Spanish flavor and love from a family recipe. Trust me when I say that this Spanish albondigas recipe is even better than what you'd find at a traditional tapas bars! BTW albondigas is the Spanish word for meatballs.
If you love hearty Spanish recipes, you might also want to try this Spanish lentil stew, this Spanish chicken soup, this Spanish hake recipe or this Spanish vegan paella. They’re all amazingly delicious family recipes.
Jump to:
- Why you will love these Spanish Style Meatballs in onion-tomato sauce!
- Ingredients
- Substitutions & variations
- How to cook the best Spanish meatballs recipe
- Equipment to make Spanish Albondigas
- Storage
- Top tips to make the most delicious meatballs!
- FAQ
- Related
- The Best Spanish Meatballs (Albondigas Family Recipe)
- See what other people think about this recipe!
Why you will love these Spanish Style Meatballs in onion-tomato sauce!
- They are SO DELICIOUS AND SAUCY!
- Easy to make, following some simple steps.
- Ideal for batch cooking, meal prep or for a large family feed. These meatballs get tastier as they sit in the fridge, making amazing leftovers 😋
- Super hearty main dish, that you can combine with potatoes, pasta or rice!
Ingredients
These homemade meatballs are made with simple ingredients that you can easily find in the grocery store. This recipe is to make a large batch (40-60 meatballs pending on the size). You can always double the ingredients to make a double batch, or half them to make a smaller batch. It's an ideal recipe to freeze and have portions ready to go for lunches or busy weeknight dinners.
Meatball ingredients
- Garlic cloves cut in medium chunks - these will later be crushed with the mortar and pestle, so there's no need to cut them small
- Fresh parsley - fresh herbs aid digestion and flavour
- Loaf GF white bread (crust removed) - to make the most tender meatballs (tip explained later!)
- Milk (I use sugar-free almond milk) - along with the bread, it helps achieve a juicy meatball. Feel free to use whole milk if you can tolerate dairy.
- Grass-fed lean ground beef - ground meat is the base of the meatballs. Buy quality meat!!
- Organic eggs - I usually buy large eggs, but medium size eggs will also work
- Brown onion grated (excess liquid removed)
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Chickpea flour or flour of choice - to roll the raw meatballs over
Onion & tomato-based sauce
- Tomato passata or tomato puree
- Brown onion diced
- White wine
- Chicken stock
- Bay leaves (optional)
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & variations
- Cappers - finely diced, added to the meatball mixture.
- Cognac - instead of white wine.
- Add carrot to the sauce - diced in small cubes, and later added to the food mill along with the onion.
- Use the soft part of a baguette - instead of loaf bread.
- Bake the meatballs - instead of frying them. Add parchment paper to a baking sheet. Add the uncooked meatballs and add a little olive oil. Bake in the oven at 200 degree celsius for approx 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Other meat (instead of beef mince) - ground pork, ground turkey or ground chicken would work well. You can also use a combination of them. For example ½ lean ground beef + ½ ground pork.
How to cook the best Spanish meatballs recipe
It might look that these traditional Spanish meatballs take a long time to prepare, but it’s really easy to follow and no crazy cooking skills are required. Trust me, it's a great recipe and you're going to love it!! 😊
Start by making the meatball mixture
Cut the bread in chunks with the hands, and soak it in the milk. Smash using a fork or pestle. Crush the garlic with the parsley in a mortar and pestle, until they’re well crushed. Add the soaked bread, a tiny bit of wine (approx. 1 tbsp) to the mortar, and combine all the ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, add the ground meat with the rest of the meatball ingredients. Combine well with your hands, until all the ingredients have blended.
Roll the meatballs
Add a generous amount of chickpea flour to a plate. Grab a bit of the meatball mixture with a tablespoon, and form the meatballs with your fingers (I like small meatballs, but this is a personal preference. Bigger meatballs mean less rolling, and therefore less work!). Roll over the chickpea flour, and transfer to a tray or plate. You might want to put parchment paper or spread a bit of extra flour to avoid the meatballs sticking to the plate/tray.
Repeat this process until you’ve used all the meat mixture. You should end up with approximately 60 small /40 medium meatballs.
Fry the meatballs
Pour olive oil to a large pot and bring it to boil. The olive oil should be approx. 1-2 fingers high, to cover half the height of the meatballs. Fry the raw meatballs on medium-high heat in small batches, so there is enough space around. Cook for approx. 1-2 minutes on each side, until they’re nicely golden brown. Set aside on a plate.
Prepare the onion-tomato sauce, and cook the meatballs in it
Clean the oil where you fried the meatballs with a thin strainer. Cook onion in the oil with a pinch of salt, and cook on medium-low heat for approx. 15 minutes until it becomes soft.
Pour the tomato, wine and bay leaves, stir to combine, and cook for another 5 minutes. Pour the stock little by little, and stir to combine. Increase to medium-high heat, bring it to boil, and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
Using a skimmer, grab all the onion from the sauce, and transfer it to a food mill (see tip below). Place the food mill over the pot, and mash the onion. The sauce will look quite liquid at the beginning, but it will thicken later.
Add the meatballs to the sauce, and once it starts boiling, let the meatballs simmer in medium heat in the sauce for another 5-8 minutes.
Tip! If you don't have a food mill, you can use a hand blender instead. Don't over blend the sauce though.
Equipment to make Spanish Albondigas
- Knife & chopping board
- Large bowl
- Mortar & pestle
- Large pot
- Skimmer
- Food mill or hand blender
Storage
Store the leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can freeze portions in airtight containers for up to 3 months. They're ideal to have a delicious meal ready on a busy weeknight!
Top tips to make the most delicious meatballs!
And the family secrets to make these Spanish meatballs in tomato sauce extra-delicious are...
The soft bread addition soaked in milk! The soft bread will help make the meatballs soft, don't skip it!
Frying the meatballs in the same oil where you cook the sauce. This way the sauce will grab a delicious meaty taste.
FAQ
The eggs and the soft bread, will help bind the meatball mix together. The soft bread will also help make the meatballs soft.
Loaf bread without the borders! The meatballs will also have a softer and nicer texture.
The secret to achieve a good meatball is good quality grass-fed lean ground beef, and once again, the soft bread soaked in milk! It will help make the meatballs light and soft.
Frying the meatballs will help them stay together better and not breaking apart. The browning on the surfaces amplifies the flavour, resulting in delicious meatballs!
I recommend cooking the meatballs in the sauce for 5 minutes only (for small sized meatballs). Since you have fry them (or baked) already, they don't need long.
You can reheat the meatballs either in the microwave or in the stove. If reheating in the stove, use a small pot with lid and cook on medium-low heat.
Related
The Best Spanish Meatballs (Albondigas Family Recipe)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Main course
- Cuisine: Spanish
Description
Learn how to cook the best Spanish meatballs on the stove top in delicious sauce. This gluten-free Spanish-style meatballs recipe will become your new favourite! It is a family recipe (gluten-free adapted), that has gone through generations, and it's always a favourite within the family and guests. Ideal to make a big batch and freeze portions to enjoy on a busy weeknight. Dairy-free.
Ingredients
Meatball mixture
2-3 garlic cloves cut in medium chunks
Handful of fresh parsley
2 slices of soft GF bread (crust removed)
¼ cup of plant-based milk (I use sugar-free almond)
1 kg of grass-fed lean ground beef
2 organic eggs
¼ brown onion grated (excess liquid removed)
1 tsp of salt
¼ tsp of ground black pepper
Chickpea flour
Tomato sauce
6 tbsp of tomato passata or tomato puree
2 big / 3 medium brown onion diced
⅓ cup of white wine
400ml of chicken stock
2 bay leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Start by making the meatball mixture. Cut the bread in chunks with the hands, and soak it in the milk. Smash using a fork or pestle. Crush the garlic with the parsley in a mortar and pestle, until they’re well crushed. Add the soaked bread, a tiny bit of wine (approx. 1 tbsp) to the mortar, and combine all the ingredients.
-
In a large mixing bowl, add the meat with the rest of the ingredients. Combine well with your hands, until all the ingredients have blended.
-
Roll the meatballs. Add a generous amount of chickpea flour to a plate. Grab a bit of the meat with a tablespoon, and form the meatballs with your fingers (I like the meatballs quite small, but this is a personal preference). Roll over the chickpea flour, and transfer to a tray or plate. You might want to put parchment paper or spread a bit of extra flour to avoid the meatballs sticking to the plate/tray.
-
Repeat this process until you’ve used all the meat. You should end up with approximately 60 small / 40 medium meatballs.
-
Fry the meatballs. Pour olive oil to a large pot and bring it to boil. The olive oil should be approx. 1-2 fingers high, to cover half the height of the meatballs. Fry the raw meatballs on medium-high heat in small batches, so there is enough space around. Cook for approx. 1 minute on each side, until they’re nicely golden brown. Set aside on a plate.
-
Prepare the onion-tomato sauce. Clean the oil with a thin strainer. Add the onion to the oil with a pinch of salt, and cook on medium-low for approx. 15 minutes until it becomes soft. Pour the tomato, wine and bay leaves, stir to combine, and cook for another 5 minutes. Pour the stock little by little, stirring to combine. Increase to medium-high heat, bring it to boil, and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
-
Using a skimmer, grab all the onion from the sauce, and transfer it to a food mill (see notes below). Place the food mill over the pot, and mash the onion. The sauce will look quite liquid at the beginning, but it will thicken later.
-
Cook to meatballs on the sauce. Add the meatballs to the sauce, and once it starts boiling cook for another 5-8 minutes.
Notes
If you don't have a food mill, you can use a hand blender instead. Don't over blend the sauce though.
You can bake the meatballs instead of frying them. Add parchment paper to a baking sheet. Add the uncooked meatballs and add a little olive oil. Bake in the oven at 200 degree celsius for approx 20 minutes.
You can use other meat (instead of beef) - ground pork, ground turkey or ground chicken would work well. You can also use a combination of them. For example ½ lean ground beef + ½ ground pork.
Store the leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can freeze portions in airtight containers for up to 3 months. They're ideal to have a delicious meal ready on a busy weeknight!
Marta Tomé says
Alice these meatballs are very nice, i cooked them and they were delicious.
My granddaugther loves them. thanks for sharing the recipe.
alicia gonzalez tome says
Glad to hear Marta 🙂
Mia says
I love Spanish albondigas, and these are so delicious!! Easy recipe and everyone at home loved them! The sauce is super good.
alicia gonzalez tome says
Glad you liked them Mia! Yes the sauce is so good 😛